Holy Rosary

Holy Rosary through the years

Like so many of the parishes scattered throughout the geographical area of the Diocese of Spokane, Pomeroy was blessed by the ministry of itinerate Jesuit priests. The first Mass was celebrated in 1863 by Fr. Joseph Cataldo, S.J., at the McBreary home on Pataha Creek. In 1878, Fr. Peter Poaps organized the Church of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, consisting of 22 families. J.M. Pomeroy donated land to the Catholic people of Garfield County to be held in trust by the Bishop of Nisqually. The Catholics set to work on the first of three Catholic churches that would be built in the years to come. The first, a wooden structure, was destroyed by gale force winds on January 9, 1880. It was replaced by another wooden structure, which was replaced by the present brick church (dedicated in 1916).

In preparation for the centennial celebration of the parish in 1978, a major renovation of the church building was undertaken. Moreover, in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the third church building in 2016, another major renovation took place: it renewed the historical and architectural details of the church and added handicap access, a paved parking area, an exterior statue of the Madonna and Child, and a new reconciliation chapel with etched-glass windows of the five Luminous Mysteries (the other 15 mysteries were already depicted on the exterior stained-glass windows).

Holy Rosary Parish School was founded in 1886 and was initially staffed by the Sisters of St. Benedict from Cottonwood, ID. In 1888, the first community of Dominican Sisters in the state of Washington assumed responsibility for the school. Pomeroy was to be the headquarters for the Sisters who today are known as the Tacoma Dominicans. However, they left in 1894, and the school closed. In 1899, it reopened with the help of the Cottonwood Sisters of St. Benedict. In 1940, the Sisters of the Holy Names took over the school and remained there until 1969, when it closed. The most recent school building, built in the early 1950s, currently serves as a parish center with classrooms for faith formation, a kitchen and a reception hall.

In the 1880s, Holy Rosary Parish Cemetery was established north of town. It was moved to its present location west of town in 1914.

Currently, the Holy Rosary Parish has about 95 families. It has an active Altar Society: among other things, the ladies look after the interior of the church, serve at funeral dinners, and for many years have hosted an Election Day Salad Bar (which is still a popular community activity for Catholic and non-Catholics alike, despite mail-in voting becoming the norm in our state). The Knights of Columbus Council (#1460) was founded on February 13, 1910 and remains active today supporting the needs of the parish and the community at large.